Incarcerated RJD chief Lalu Prasad is likely to come under Covid scanner after an ASI rank official deployed for his security at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi tested positive for Covid-19, doctors from the premier State-run hospital said on Tuesday.
However, doctors said that the ex-Bihar CM will be tested only if the contact tracing of the infected cop unfolds contact history with other security personnel deployed at the ward where Prasad is admitted. As of now, it is believed that the infected ASI did not come in contact with Lalu, said a senior doctor at RIMS. The ASI, who has a travel history to Bihar, tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday.
“We have started contact tracing of the infected policeman. As of now, we have not seen any indication of him coming in direct contact with Laluji,” said Dr. Umesh Prasad, who has been treating Lalu at the paying ward of RIMS. “If other security personnel deployed here also test positive for Covid-19, then we may have to test Laluji as well,” he added.
Dr. Prasad said that contact tracing of the infected cop should be complete by Wednesday. Doctors will have a clearer picture of whether Lalu needs to be tested for Covid-19 or not once the contact tracing is done, he added.
Prasad, 73, has had a history of medical conditions. In August 2014, he underwent two major heart surgeries — one to replace an aortic valve and the other to repair the aorta, at Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai. He has since been under medications.
He has also had four episodes of perianal abscess, an infection in the rectum which may lead to formation of fistula, doctors said. Currently, he is under medication for hypertension, diabetes and heart.
A CBI court in 2018 convicted Lalu in a fodder scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs.89 lakh from the Deoghar treasury from year 1991 to 1994. A month later, he was convicted in another fodder scam case and sentenced to five years of imprisonment.
He was admitted in the cardiology wing of RIMS in the same year after he complained of discomfort while serving imprisonment in the Birsa Munda Jail in Ranchi. Since then, he has been undergoing treatment at the hospital. In 2018, he was referred to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi from where he was later released and sent back to Ranchi.